{"id":9489,"date":"2026-01-30T21:00:38","date_gmt":"2026-01-30T08:00:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cvnznews.com\/?p=9489"},"modified":"2026-01-30T18:57:03","modified_gmt":"2026-01-30T05:57:03","slug":"convicted-murderer-clayton-weatherston-denied-parole-after-18-years-in-prison","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cvnznews.com\/?p=9489","title":{"rendered":"Convicted murderer Clayton Weatherston denied parole after 18 years in prison"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

This story by RNZ Reporter Tim Brown discusses graphic details of violence.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Convicted murderer Clayton Weatherston has told the Parole Board that his mutilation of Sophie Elliott was “just an F-U to everything about her”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The 50-year-old has been declined parole and will remain behind bars until at least November 2027.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Weatherston was an academic at Otago University who lectured in economics and had been in a relationship with the honours student.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Elliott, 22, had left Weatherston and was packing up her life to move to Wellington to take up a job at Treasury on 9 January 2008, Weatherston’s 32nd birthday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Weatherston arrived at her family home in the Dunedin suburb of Ravensbourne armed with a knife.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He stabbed her to death so viciously the knife broke and used a pair of scissors in his frenzied attack.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Weatherston inflicted 216 stab or cutting wounds as well as seven blunt force injuries and disfigured her body.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On Friday morning he appeared before the Parole Board for the first time after serving an 18-year non-parole period of imprisonment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

His lawyer told the panel Weatherston was not seeking parole and understood more time would have to pass before he was eligible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Panel members asked Weatherston if he had reflected on his offending and had any explanation for his attack on Elliott and his actions after she was dead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He told the board the attack was “incredibly misguided” and he was ashamed and remorseful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“My offending was about alleviating frustration,” Weatherston said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“It was about alleviating my distress. A lot of the things going on in my life were projected on to her, anything I don’t like about her, anything I don’t like about myself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“It was a visceral, brutal way of wiping out someone you have perceived as hurting you in the worst way possible. It was just an F-U to everything about her and about that I am ashamed and ashamed I would channel that towards another person.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Sophie<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sophie Elliot was 22 when she was murdered by her ex-boyfriend Clayton Weatherston in Dunedin on 9 January 2008. Photo: Supplied<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At trial Weatherston tried to blame the attack on Elliott, claiming the partial defence of provocation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Her death shocked New Zealand and Weatherston’s antics at trial further outraged the nation, leading to the partial defence of provocation being abolished by statute.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“I feel shifting the blame, shifting the focus of behaviour away from me was completely wrong,” Weatherston told the Parole Board.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“I certainly regret the nature of that court process. I think the focus should be on my behaviour and I really regret that, the way things played out at that time.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Panel member Alan Hackney asked Weatherston if he had any flashbacks or nightmares about his crime.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Yes, all of those things,” Weatherston said, impassively.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“There are certain triggers in everyday life, mentions of certain words, comments from other people. Looking back it’s just extreme regret for the tragedy of the whole situation.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Upon reflection, Weatherston claimed his offending caused him a “high degree of anxiety and stress and shame”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hackney remarked that Weatherston “described that incredibly calmly” considering the distress he described to the board.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“I don’t feel calm and in fact I feel extremely emotional,” Weatherston said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“It’s not something that’s easy to deal with. Some days I get very emotional about it and some days I say ‘you just have to accept what has happened and move forward’.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Sitting here today and as I present to you, I’m trying to maintain myself in this environment,” Weatherston said, lifting his glasses and wiping an eye.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During his trial, the court heard Weatherston had kicked another former girlfriend and made her nose bleed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He was asked about the conflicting accounts he had given of that assault and his responsibility for it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He told the Parole Board he maintained he was “jumping over” the woman and it was an “accidental act that I immediately apologised for”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The board heard Weatherston had not been involved in any misconduct during his time in prison.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He had not undertaken any rehabilitation and there was some way to go before that could happen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Weatherston had read for more than 1000 hours and had familiarised himself with methods of psychology.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The board heard he remained at high-risk of reoffending against intimate partners.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Weatherston said he believed he had some element of neurodivergence and “some degree of personality traits”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When it was pointed out that clinicians had assessed him as suffering from a severe personality disorder he responded, “I don’t subscribe to the high degree of narcissistic personality disorder opined”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A support person told the panel that he had seen “a lot of change, growth and development” in Weatherston during his 18 years behind bars.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Weatherston’s lawyer Roger Eagles said his client “does feel remorse and shame for his actions” and “understands the huge distress caused for the victim’s family and friends”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He said it was possible Weatherston would make “rapid progress” when he undertook rehabilitation because he was “undoubtedly a gifted man intellectually”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Weatherston told the board he was a different man from the “hard-charging, younger version of me”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“I want to verbalise my remorse and action it. I take it incredibly seriously,” he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Gil<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gil Elliot, Sophie Elliot’s father, had sought a postponement order to prevent Weatherston appearing before the Parole Board again for several years, although it was not imposed. Photo: RNZ \/ Nate McKinnon<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Elliott’s father Gil remained sceptical\u00a0about Weatherston’s remorse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“I’m not sure whether that would be genuine or not,” he told RNZ following the board’s decision.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Narcissists’ mental state doesn’t change because it can’t change. They are wired that particular way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“His mental state when he went in should not be or won’t be any different then to his mental state now 18 years later.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gil thanked Victim Support and the Parole Board for their support and manner, which put him and his support people at ease.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He had sought a postponement order to prevent Weatherston appearing before the Parole Board again for several years, although it was not imposed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“It was bad enough going through the hearing this time although it was certainly a lot better than we thought it was going to be because the Parole Board was so nice and accommodating,” Elliott said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“I’m sure not sure I’d attend another hearing, but November 2027 we’ll have to go through it all again.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Elliott said his daughter’s death and her killer’s brutality would hang over him “forever and a day”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Parole Board will assess Weatherston’s progress late next year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Where to get help:<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

If it is an emergency and you feel like you or someone else is at risk, call 111.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sexual Violence<\/h3>\n\n\n\n